Where making peace with the pieces doesn't have to be a compromise, where deprivation becomes joy, and Eating To Live is my true preference! Welcome to my impossible world, I am Jemoiselle and this is The Blissful Nutritarian.

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Friday, July 1, 2011

I have been posting an awful lot on my favorite topic, nutritarian baking (oh yes, once a baker always a baker) but gosh, I have been reminded that you all might want to know more about my everyday life! I certainly don't bake every day, but it does make my life blissful indeed when I do. It also makes me feel blissful when I wake up, put on my jeans in the morning as the sun is rising around 5am full of energy and vigor where I used to be comatose, look in the mirror, and see a svelte 114lb reflection! Another reason being a nutritarian is awesome! I cannot sing it's praises enough, nor will I ever be able to thank Dr. Fuhrman enough for what his tireless efforts within his books and online community has done for my life. I will never be the same! I love being fit and healthy and happy! Onward.

Almost every morning, I have one of these. When I go on vacation, I bring my vitamix. It is that important. It is a rare morning that I don't, unless I can't find the ingredients temporarily. Life overseas does that to a person occasionally! I always feel off if I don't get my green smoothie in first thing! Though I hate hate HATE having cold things for breakfast, I am a warm girl at heart and love me a hot breakfast something fierce, once again, the way these make me feel for the rest of the day is worth the trade off. If I absolutely cannot tolerate the cold, I can have some delicious apple crepes on the side maybe? I don't want this blog to be entirely about recipes though, this is the whole she-bang. The mindset. The inspirations. Just...life. I don't want to follow any model in particular, I just want to share me, raw and uncut. No froo froo fluffy exterior, I am a real person and I hope I convey that in my writings. Without further ado, here is the nom nom recipe!

Blend up in vitamix or other insanely powerful blender, enjoy in a frozen mug!

I kind of just throw this together each day, paying no mind to measuring. Those measurements are my best guess at what I do most of the time. You can add or subtract what you want until it works for you :)
On the bananas, every week I buy a huge bunch of bananas from a private supplier, let them age till very ripe, chop them up and freeze them for this smoothie. It works so well! I stand the chopped pieces up on their "ends" to really make efficient use of my small freezer.

Perhaps sometime soon I will post about the homemade vanilla and almond milk. Both are ridiculously easy to make and replace two very unhealthy items still used in most Nutritarian/Vegan/Whole Foodist kitchens, unaware or accepting of their folly due to having "no other option". I am so happy I finally started making my own! Purist at heart, I am. Of course, if you don't/won't/can't make your own, the alternative is still better than eating SAD food exclusively so you can still be happy knowing you are doing well for yourself.

Just sharing really quick with you what I made for my afternoon snack today! I am SO a baker at heart, and of course my favorite past time being a nutritarian (besides living life to it's fullest, buying tiny clothes, neglecting social time with my doctor and skipping the costly trips to the pharmacy) is finding new ways to incorporate my past love affair with baking into my whole food, plant based, no processed JUNK, happy hippy lifestyle. LOL! These cookies are gluten free when made from oats not processed in facilities that process wheat. They are free from processed ingredients including oils like olive oil and others, free from any non-whole food sugar (sugar that is extracted from anything and denied it's natural fibers and elements) and best of all, delicious.

The recipe has been featured on my site before in simpler form, leaving tons of room for experimentation and alterations/substitutions. That's the spice of life, yes? The recipe for these cookies is as follows, but for more detailed instructions please see my post about nutritarian cookies HERE!

Mash bananas, dates, tahini and vanilla with masher. Mix in carrots, oats, raisins and optional pineapple. Add spices to taste! Allow to sit for approx. 30 minutes to absorb liquid if using the jumbo oats, otherwise just proceed.

Drop by the tablespoon via a mini ice cream scoop or melon baller onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Please don't use nasty cooking spray :) Just get that plastic spatula ready for when they are done and use those fine sexy biceps to get them off! LOL Drop them 2 inches apart or less. They won't spread much, besides the next step. Gather your inner passive aggressive diva and after placing a towel on the counter, BANG the cookie sheet on top of it to spread the cookies into perfect little circles! Voila! Feel better? Me too. :P

Now bake those bad boys for 15-20 minutes at 350 F. I just wait until I smell them, and then, when the bottoms are a rich brown take them out. I let them cool in the pan before removing them. Frost with the delicious Vanilla Nut Frosting, sprinkle with the Raw Cacao Nibs and if you feel froggy (why not?) add some freshly ground flax seeds too! Yeah, I had my flax in my breakfast today so the cookies got neglected, sorry!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Three A's: Artichoke, Asparagus and the mother of all of these to me, Avocado!

Credit: Master isolated images of freedigitalphotos.net

Today was a beautiful day here, and being such, we went out and joined in on a local playgroup with a wonderful new friend. Hi Susan! When I got home I was absolutely famished! So I quickly put my little love to bed, he was tired after all that playing after all, and then promptly raided the kitchen to find what was for lunch for me! I rummaged through the fridge and almost decided on a persimmon to snack on before I remembered what lie on the counter top mere inches away from my view...

A deliciously ripe Australian Avocado! Now, there may be some of you out there who will immediately, riiiight about...NOW be making the "yuck!" face. I hear you! I was once akin to you! But those days are in the past, because now, as a nutritarian, my tastes have morphed and changed into a completely different preference set and I love, love LOVE me some avocados like you simply would not believe! Seriously, being a nutritarian changes your tastes so dramatically you truly have no idea what you will like until you just "Nike it baby", and do it. It truly is amazing what your body is capable of if we would only give it a chance, and allow it to thrive in the best way we know how. But I digress (what's new, right?) back to lunch.

So, I get all excited at my discovery and the prospect of something especially tasty for lunch and slice my avocado in half. The color is amazing, gorgeous even! Such a creamy pastel mint green with a hint of moss color. I find it relaxing just to look at it. Something comes to mind when I think about it, sunshine, sea birds, a hammock swaying gently in the wind while a comfortable enveloping tropical breeze tousles my hair...coconuts in the trees...cool cucumbers on my mind LOL. Oh what this stuff does to me! Seriously, don't ever let me catch you saying foodies cannot become nutritarians because they love "food" too much. That is just a bunch of baloney! Literally. I am proof, it's a romance! Enough already, onward!

So, as I am eating it, I decide to look up the nutritional data to find out just how many phytonutrients and macronutrients this bad boy contains. The information available is amazing, this is perfection. It contains so many important nutrients and antioxidants/photochemicals we need in one food and while quite calorific, contains enough mono/poly unsaturated fats to make our hearts happy and offset any saturated fats we get from our nuts and seeds. Delish. It is naturally anti-inflammitory, and contains Lutein a plenty, one of the 600 known carotenoids, this one known to prevent damage to the retina as we age. Anyone out there have glasses? Mmm hmm.

Avocado, baby. In the eyes, Lutein actually was found concentrated, according to the Wiki link here in the retina. The hypothesis (reason they believe it goes there when we eat it) states it is there to absorb "blue light" which causes oxidative stress to the retinas, which would other wise have been damaging it over time leading to macular degeneration. It is also shown to play an important preventative role in the development of cataracts.

Hmm, what else does it have? Gosh, there is really too much to list here and not bore you to tears! I'll try to shorten the list. Here we go! The following is sourced from http://www.avocado.org/nutrition/

-They act as a "nutrient booster" if you will, enabling the body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients such as alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, when eaten in tandem with the avocado.

According to this site, the avocado's anti-inflammitory qualities come from it's rich concentration and variety of phytosterols. Phytosterols in avocado play an impressive role in the prevention of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Among it's other benefits, it is being shown as an anti-cancerous food, relating to mouth, skin and prostate cancer prevention and blood-sugar regulation. In one study, it was shown to actually increase oxidative stress in cancer cells resulting in those cells, for lack of a better description, self-destructing. Meanwhile, in healthy cells, the opposite mechanism is observed where as the healthy cells are shielded from oxidative stress! Amazing.

Information abounds online, if you are interested in reading more I now release you into the "cyber wild" to go on safari for avocado knowledge a plenty! I don't know about you though, but I for one didn't need to know any of this to know that avocados are delicious and I want to eat them almost every day! And most days, that's just what I do. They are delicious, and that is the end of it.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about this gorgeous and rich little treat of nature, now go get one for yourself! I recommend simply cutting them in half, taking out the pit, and sprinkling them with a little bit of my favorite no-salt no-potassium seasoning "Table Tasty" available from Benson's Gourmet Seasonings. If you are curious, one of my previous posts in the "My Secret Weapon Series" covered a thorough review of Table Tasty. To this day, I would never wish to live without it! Delish and heart healthy. Now that's what I am talking about!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

How have you been doing with your plant-based whole foods lifestyle? Me? Oh, my. I have been doing great! But with anything this amazing and life changing, comes a desire and curiosity to continue improving until you've reached your fullest potential. That is where I am today, and I seem to be lost in thought, very deep thoughts, about the funniest thing I have ever pondered in such a way. Salad!

Dr. Fuhrman tells us "The salad is the main dish!" and he is absolutely right. Big changes awaited me after I became focused on mastering this little challenge as a Nutritarian. I crave my salad each day, as funny and backwards as that sounds, and have developed many different nutritarian dressings to use with them. My Husband though, bless his culinary emblazoned soul, came up with the mother of all Nutritarian Dressings, and absolutely changed the way I ate salad.

I had to have that dressing every day or else I would feel something was missing; it caused me to eat a LOT more salad than I had been eating! Which was good until I actually noticed how much dressing I was consuming with salad being the staple in my diet! I know the dressing was nutritarian, but still, something in me was grossed out by it! The thought of consuming a whole tupperware of dressing every 1-2 weeks due to the massive amounts of greens I eat was really disturbing me until last night. I decided since I was running out at the end of the day, that I would attempt to eat my salad dry. Fancy that?! Now I am taking this to a new level. I shouldn't be surprised, I don't do anything half way!

So, right now, I am having my huge salad for lunch and have noticed a few very interesting things! I have spent the last 2 years honing in on my ability to taste the subtleties of natural whole foods like fruits and veggies without sugar, butter, oil or salt, but have absolutely denied myself the same opportunity with the salad leaves! Would our ancestors, scavenging around for the day, eating the greens they found along their journey, have had the time to get their vitamix and puree up nuts, seeds, dates and other things mixed together to make their salad palatable before eating it? There was my answer. Greens should be edible by themselves! We just don't give them a chance! Perhaps to be like this from day one of trying to change your life would be asking too much, but seriously. Why have we neglected the greens? Why do we not attempt to appreciate them for what they are like we do with the other veggies?

As I said, I am sitting here munching on my dry salad. I am amazed at how slowly I eat each bite compared to how I wolf down my typical salads with dressing. I ponder the taste of every leaf (it's a mix of varieties) and surprise myself by instinctively feeling a pull to put down the fork and reach with my hands, delicately. It feels so very natural to pause after grabbing a leaf, and smell it, before eating it! How amazing these small things are! I notice the purple leaves taste sweet with a hint of apple aroma, and others even taste like what I remember hard boiled eggs tasting like. Some are very crisp and almost, dare I say, juicy, and others are rich and dense. After eating a fraction of my bowl I am shockingly full and very satisfied. Leaving me to question.....

Am I on to something?

I'll leave you at that, and in the mean time I encourage you to conduct a little experiment of your own and report your findings! I look forward to hearing what kinds of experiences you all have :)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Ok ok ok, so last time I posted about cookies and yes they were yummy but then, ooooh then, I found a recipe in my friend Nicole's cookbook (name? I forget) and tweaked it to make it a Nutritarian recipe and VOILA!

Jemoiselle's Awesome Nutritarian Spiced Banana Oat Cookies were born!

Everyone loves these bad boys, I mean everyone! They are easy to make, cause the kitchen to smell incredible and intoxicating, and please even the non-Nutritarian palate. I can't keep my Husband out of these! ;) Warning, I weigh my ingredients.

Mash bananas in a large bowl with potato masher until smooth and creamy.

Mashing the nanas!

Weighing the date paste

Weigh all ingredients into a large bowl one by one, then stir until satisfied!

Pouring in the sesame tahini

and allow to sit for approximately 20-30 minutes covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for oats to absorb liquid and firm up a bit. In this time, preheat the oven to 350f/180c.

My homemade vanilla extract, no sugar!

Using a small melon baller, scoop onto non-stick cookie sheets, please don't add any "fat free scam artist 100% pure fat spray" or anything else besides maybe silpat sheets or parchment, they will stick a little but with a little love you'll be fine. Now get in touch with your inner passive aggressive and bang the pans on the counter to help the cookies spread into the classic "cookie" shape! There, don't we feel better?

I like to think about slow moving cars and sales that happen the day after purchase for my cookie banging session!

Sprinkle with flax seed or place raisins or chopped nuts on top. Whatever! Be creative! And for gosh sakes, don't eat the whole batch thank you very much!

Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on how crisp around the edges you like them!

Plain Variation

Flax Seed Topped and Raisin Spice

And that's it. Seriously, this is not a Lay's potato chip day, you don't HAVE to eat the whole batch! Take it easy, have your greens and beans before these puppies, and enjoy being thin AND eating your cookies too. Kind of like having your cake and eating it too, only I haven't made a nutritarian cake recipe so....I digress!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

This is a temporary post and will be edited to include more photos and some rambling I just know you will be in tears without...but for the sake of my friends back home wanting to try this out here it is! This is a recipe I made as an experiment one day and found edible, hehe. It is a good way to use up the extra almond pulp from making almond milk! I liked the fruit version better than the raisin version but for the sake of experimenting here are both variations:

Stir together ingredients in medium sized bowl and taste to see if it needs anything else. Cinnamon is fun,
so are "pumpkin pie-esque spices" with raisins, go wild, you could use pumpkin puree or chunks for soft pumpkin cookies, who knows! When I make these into "Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" I use twice as much almond milk to get the dough a preferable texture.

Scoop with a tiny melon baller (1oz/2oz) onto a parchment lined baking sheet close together (they don't spread) and bake at 350 F for 15 to 20 minutes. I have tried making them flat, but they seem best to me in little balls. They would also be fun with a macadamia nut or something pressed into the top perhaps? Oh the possibilities!

NOW SIT ON THE OVEN FLOOR LIKE A DORK AND STARE AT SAID COOKIES AND DROOL AS THEY BAKE, TAKING PHOTOS!

I have been a nutritarian now for coming up on two years. This April will be my 2 year anniversary, in fact. I also have a toddler of 3 years old, whom at this very moment is determined to intervene on my writing this blog! Heh. Toddlers, right? All this time I have been in turmoil with regards to his eating. My Husband is not a nutritarian, and with that brings many challenges when it comes to what's for dinner and what my toddler prefers. I will also add that he is very supportive of me and of feeding Skye like I do myself! After my lifestyle revolution, certificate courses at Cornell University in Plant-based Nutrition, and of course the most amazing, reading Dr. Fuhrman's books, I've felt irresponsible to NOT be feeding my son in a manner that will allow him to avoid the common "Diseases of Affluence" now plaguing most Americans in their middle age where they should be just enjoying life and freedom.

"I've felt irresponsible to NOT be feeding my son in a manner that will allow him to avoid the common "Diseases of Affluence"

I am talking about heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure. Instead they are having heart attacks in their 30's and 40's and on blood pressure meds and statins, feeling broken, afraid and stressed. Not only that, but it is expensive! Those meds add up and only lead to more meds. Ever wonder how much those bypass surgeries cost? Ever heard how they place a stent? You could buy a VERY nice car for the price! Forget the retirement dream home, you have to pay for the bypasses to come. Just like the chip slogan "Betcha can't have only one".

Heart problems just get worse and worse, like a ticking time bomb. Not my idea of what I want to be doing at that time in my life! Also and more importantly in turn, not my idea of what I want for my child. The authorities are saying for the first time in history children today are not expected to outlive their parents. Seriously! Look it up. But it is so hard, especially with him getting more and more aware of junk food and all it's "pleasures". I am intoxicated by his smile, how can I rob him of that which gives him joy? I want to give him everything he wants and more! I'd give him the moon if I could.

"This is the time to shape him for the rest of his life, but is it worth it and fair to make a three year old a nutritarian? That was my question..."

I had to put forth a lot of effort to free myself from food addiction and a host of medical problems in my early 20's. Actually my medical problems started around 9 with strange bumps on my arms that wouldn't go away, followed at 15 with acne, then by 17 migraines, 20 joint problems, depression, anxiety and high cholesterol to name a few. I had to fight for what I am now! Free from these ailments and more.

"Two years ago when I looked in the mirror I saw a shell of a person who was not a reflection of what was kept inside."

Now, I see ME. Inside and out, healthy and fit, what I want to be---in control, free. When I think back to when I started eating this way, I remember wishing I had just always been served this kind of food from a young age so that it wasn't so hard adjusting and coming down from the sugar/salt cravings. I remember thinking how lucky Dr. Fuhrman's kids are to not have had to go through this pain and searching and battling. Then I think of my young little son, again, and wonder why I am allowing him to follow in my painful footsteps, allowing him to eat whatever he wants instead of teaching him without compromise. Come to think of it, growing up my Mom used to feed me cheerios instead of fruit loops, which I detested, but it was how it was, and I dealt with it. Was she a bad Mom for depriving me of sugary cereals? No, just trying to set me up in the best way she knew how, for success later in life. Nevermind that they were cheerios. She made boundaries, I followed. Why should I be any different?

"I've reflected on birthdays I've had in the past full of delicious cakes, frosting on noses, fresh warm and gooey chocolate chip cookies from Momma's oven..."

I've tossed and turned over whether having a child eat as a nutritarian (for health) is cruel, depriving them of experiences or not, and over the top. I've reflected on birthdays I've had in the past full of delicious cakes, frosting on noses, fresh warm and gooey chocolate chip cookies from Momma's oven...all things that are precious memories. I've wondered how on Earth I could live with myself if I took all that away, would that make me a bad Mom? Would he resent me for it later? Would I steal those precious moments I got to enjoy, nevermind the consequences and the many years of pain and tears it ended up causing? I couldn't figure out where I stood, so I opted for allowing him to choose and living by example. My three year old son, thank goodness, did choose a lot of my foods over Daddy's foods. He developed a preference for my foods that lasted for a while but started waning as he grew older, more aware of culinary possibilities and being able to remember what we have behind closed cabinet doors, and outside at our favorite cafes. He started to stray more and more from eating some of both of our menus and more eating towards Daddy's menu, and then worse. You can imagine my stress levels started rising, and the winds of change came upon us.

"A new day has come indeed..."

It was four nights ago that I got my final wake up call. It came in the form of an email from www.diseaseproof.com Dr. Fuhrman's blog. The article was written by Emily Boller, one of Dr. Fuhrman's most publicized success stories, and someone I am proud to know even if it is only through the internet hehe. That article can be found at the link above. It really hit a nerve with me, I made a comment at the end of it, and then decided I had answered my own question. Food is just food, it's the PEOPLE that make it special and memorable.

I can't control everything in his life. There will still be birthdays with cake at friend's houses in the future I am sure. Halloween will come and go, easter baskets will be found, candy canes will be eaten...but his "normal" will be the same things I eat. End of story. We will make beautiful nutritarian Thanksgivings he will never forget (or know any different). I am not willing to sacrifice his health and longevity for the false and temporary "happiness" disease promoting foods bring with them. When he gets older, when the time comes, he may choose for himself what to eat away from home. By then, he will feel the difference for himself when he eats those other foods and can make his own educated decision. I said "Tomorrow was a new day" in my comment on that post, and indeed it was. The first day my son, age three, became a nutritarian.

"Food is just food, it's the PEOPLE that make it special and memorable..."

The funny thing is, of all things I worried about: Telling him no when he sees a donut at the cafe, wants french fries for lunch, wants a lollipop for going potty (we're potty training) seeing food at a friend's house he can't have, asking for eggs at breakfast etc). All of them have been so easy to handle, and really, he is happy to eat whatever he is given and is enthusiastic about it even and easily accepts my guidance without tantrums. The things I feared the most have been so easy, I cannot believe I let those fears eat me up all those years!

He has eaten so much better too, more enthusiastic about the enjoyment aspect ("Mmmmm so yummy! Delicious Mimi!") as he ate his orange this morning. Asking for more and more salad for breakfast, having a blast making it himself (putting lettuce in bowl, sprinkling on beans, raisins and oranges and homemade nut and fruit dressing we made together) jumping up and down and getting wide eyed at getting raisin boxes as treats for using the potty instead of the usual "balls of internal destruction" we call lollipops (lol that is humor there don't freak out!) So as you can see from my badly fragmented sentences (anyone wanna be my permanent editor? lol) this change has not deprived him of anything, but yet, actually has added to his enjoyment of life and time with his family.

We have had so much quality time making things together, talking about healthy foods, and enjoying them together. To top off the wonderfulness of the evening, we made my very own recipe for nutritarian spiced oatmeal-almond raisin cookies. As we sat there making cookies together, me watching his smoosh his face on the oven window to see them baking and sniff the air "Mmmmm Mimi it smells GOOD!" I couldn't help but smile. It's been three days since then, what an amazing and wonderful journey. Best yet, my heart feels light and that guilty burden is gone.

"My fears were absolutely relevant, but easily disproven.."

If you have thought about feeding your kids like you feed yourself, as a nutritarian, I urge you to just try it and allow the reality of the outcome guide you. My fears were absolutely relevant, but easily disproven. Making those cookies together was so special to me, it was truly the icing on my (nutritarian) cake. It showed me once and for all he can and will have a fulfilling and wonderful life filled with sweet memories, as much as a kid who eats tollhouse cookies with their parents on cold fall evenings, only we'll be eating my cookies instead...and that's a-ok. I am what makes them special to him, so go ahead Moms, give yourself a little credit and realize that YOU are what makes those memories special and not the food. If your Grandma made nutritarian Thanksgiving Dinners all your life, you would grow up fondly remembering them instead of a bird.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

It was a rough night here in Abu Dhabi for me, as we had a huge earthquake in a neighboring country, Pakistan, and we felt it here too. It started when my cuckoo clock's pendulum stopped swinging suddenly around 11:19pm. I thought it was odd, but I started it back up and went on with my nightly ritual of sitting at the kitchen table surfing the net! Hehe. What happened next, at 12:23AM was the equivalent of a boat ride, as I felt myself rocking and swaying side to side, dizzy and afraid. I ran for my three year old and went outside! I could hear screeching metal (never figured out what it was) and I could see my window panes shaking as we took it all in.
Why am I telling you this, dear reader, you wonder? Oh my gosh! COMFORT FOOD. I NEED comfort food today, of all days. So, what does a nutritarian do for comfort?

APPLE CREPES!

Ok, so I "invented" this dish out of ingredients everyone knows and loves, so technically I didn't invent anything lol. But this is my blog, and I'm the one typing...so it's mine! All mine! Before I became a nutritarian and when I was a little gal my Grandmother used to make us the most delectable Swedish pancakes, a crepe like pancake of sorts. Totally bad for you, but delicious. This is my nutritarian substitute, and I must say, the more I make it, the more it feels like "home".

Truly there is no real substitute for Grandma's Swedish pancakes/crepes, but then again, there is also no substitute for feeling confident with your body and happy with your health and energy levels. For me, it's just not an option. I will always and forever cherish the old memories despite it all, and I will still make those Swedish pancakes for my friends and family who are not nutritarians as bad as that is of me to do :D But, that is my compromise to make. If you won't join me in Eating to Live, I'll still cook for you with all my heart because I love you! That's why I've got a cake blog too. It's so funny that such a baker ended up such a health nut. Gotta love it. Have you any idea how hard it is to make a cake when you can't taste the batter to make sure it's just right? lol That is what Husbands are for, apparently.

So, the recipe.

APPLE CREPES (per person)

1-2 Apples, peeled and coredCinnamon, to taste
Allspice, to taste
Lemon Juice, a dash
Water, for steam
Homemade Vanilla Extract, a few dashes?

Note about the vanilla:
If you don't have homemade vanilla don't panic. Store bought is fine, but most brands contain sugar or corn syrup hidden in the label amongst other disgraceful ingredients so I prefer to make my own. It's so easy and the vanilla taste is so PURE! Another post, I promise.

Equipment:
Cast iron crepe pan or any frying pan, NO OIL OR SPRAY FOLKS
Mandolin Slicer (or a lot of patience and a very sharp knife!)

Directions:

Use the mandolin slicer to VERY thinly slice the whole peeled and cored apples into rounds. Arrange them in the cast iron pan in a scalloped spiral shape, starting with the outside edge and working your way towards the center. Only one layer of scalloped apples, per pan. The precise way about this doesn't matter. Just don't make more than one layer, we're trying to brown some of the apple here. If you add too many apples, they won't cook correctly, and won't all get browned but mushy instead.

Sprinkle apples with cinnamon, allspice, lemon juice water and vanilla. Cover with a clear glass lid, if you have one to help the steam penetrate the apples. Pan "fry" the apples undisturbed on medium high heat until the edges start to brown. With a spatula, flip the apples over and attempt to brown the other sides. They will no longer be arranged neat and pretty, hehe. They are done when slightly caramelized and soft.

Serve immediately! I am going to experiment with making a maple vanilla cashew cream sauce to go with these in the future, they are so good! They brought me so much comfort this morning ;)

I hope they bring you comfort as well! My son broke my digital camera so for now, you'll have to settle for cell phone pics. Uploading soon!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Ok, I am going to wrap this up with a simple recommendation. Get a Vitamix! What is a Vitamix? It is a super powerful food processor/whole food blender that allows you to fully assimilate any fruit, veggie, nut or seed into easily digestible components maximizing the nutrients you obtain from your food, and exponentially increasing your variety of foods you can make and enjoy, as a nutritarian. Many commercial establishments use Vitamix machines to make their fruit smoothies, blended coffee drinks etc that have become so popular today especially on the West Coast of the USA. You can puree, make frozen drinks, smoothies, grind your coffee and seeds, even make flour (although I don't eat bread as a nutritarian) if you so choose. It makes quick work of sauces, nut milks, even composting and fertilizing your garden with leftover scraps pureed into water at the end of each day and added directly to soil. It makes healthy whole fruit sorbets with ease, and can easily make into snow an entire container FULL of ice cubes. That was the stipulation we gave the sales lady who sold us ours, actually. We said we were going to take it home, load the entire container with solid cubes from our freezer. If it couldn't turn them all to snow with ease, it was coming right back. Obviously, we all know how that ended up.

I bought mine right after I found out I was pregnant with my first and only child, and it was worth every penny. My son is three now, for reference, and the Vitamix is still going strong. When we first saw the vitamix it was at a live demonstration in a store. Immediately, it lost rapport just based on that. However, as we half willingly watched the demo, we learned the Vitamix could do many many things a regular blender simply cannot, and thoroughly enjoyed the show! She made salsa, soups (it slightly warms as it processes) dips, and among other things, baby food. At the time, that is what sold us. We were pregnant and wanted to make our own baby food when the time came. I wasn't a nutritarian back then but became one shortly after my son was born and I packed on the pounds to the tune of 165! Eeek! Thank goodness for what I didn't know! The vitamix would become absolutely indispensable as I would later become a nutritarian and lose a TON of weight in no time flat using it every day thereafter.

The best thing it has over a regular blender? Simple. It just WORKS as you might hope it would, and it is super sturdy and dependable. I have used many blenders over the years, some of which have lasted pretty long but they were all disappointing when it came to actual performance. What good is a blender that makes it 20 years, if for those 20 years, it subjected you to mediocre performance? The vitamix isn't cheap, but for what it costs, it stays around, has an incredible 7 year warranty, a company that truly stands behind it's products and is ready and willing to help if you should need (my Husband didn't use the "tamp" guard when he made something once and sliced it into oblivion!) They replaced it for free, even knowing full well it was his (our) fault! Awesome customer service. Hands down, unbeatable. Great machine, great service, great lifestyle, skinny jeans...does it get any better?

By the way, speaking of skinny jeans have you bought your copy of Dr. Fuhrman's 2nd revision of Eat to Live? I am in it! No, no pics or fancy features, but I am quoted in the beginning of the book in the testimonials section, right before the Table of Contents. I am the first quote at the top of a page there. That quote being in that book is pure magic to me. Two years ago, I was just picking up that book and unaware that my entire life would change radically, and that I would be reading my name in the next revision two years later. Unbelievable to me, and very special too. PLEASE if you are not a nutritarian, or haven't read that life changing book, Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, please go and get it? I just want you to feel as incredible about your body as I do. I want you to feel the spark of positivity that comes every time I drink a green smoothie and can feel my body thanking me for taking good care of it. I want you to have the confidence I do that I will NEVER fall victim to heart disease, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes or strokes...and relish in the peace it brings.

Oh boy, I DIGRESS! Go get Eat to Live and see my quote, read the book and change your life! Then, go get a vitamix. Amen.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Oh. My. Goodness. Hello New Year's Resolution! Keep up with my blog! Sorry guys...I have so much to tell you but before I do I want to finish my secret weapon series, because it is so important to my lifestyle and I really want you to succeed like I have! If you've already succeeded, I want you to be extra happy! Hey, smiling never hurt anyone right?

So, after all this time I owe you both parts two and three of the series, the three things I cannot live without. Here we go!

I found Table Tasty a long time ago on my favorite Nutritarian Forum at www.drfuhrman.com. I read the countless testimonies of how much people love this product and just had to order some and try it myself. They said it tasted very salty but also had an amazing flavor that really enhanced their food beyond just trying to get that "salt" flavor. I ordered it online and never saw what happened next coming from a mile away...

It absolutely blew my mind! It did taste INCREDIBLY salty, and actually tingled on my tongue with the flavors every salt-free substitute I had tried to date had lacked. This is coming from a gal that, prior to becoming a Nutritarian, considered a bouillon cube a healthy tasty snack! *eww* It satisfied my cravings for salt in the beginning of my nutritarian journey with ease. I use it to season soups, air-popped popcorn (misted with water to help it stick) and raw unsalted nuts. I was so impressed I ended up writing to Debbie Benson, the owner of the company, just to let her know how incredible I thought her product was and beg her to never stop making it lol. She was so kind and helpful, and personal. She remembered me when I went to re-order to boot, that really hit the home run for Benson's.

What more could you ask for in a company? Awesome product, personal service! Table Tasty seems expensive when you first see the price ($24.95 per 1lb bag /$4.99 for a shaker/$1.00 per sample), but take it from me, a lifetime of blood pressure and heart meds would be far worse. Table tasty helped me get off my salt habit in the beginning, and now I am able to use it a bit more sparingly to really accent my lifestyle. Hehe. I just adore my Table Tasty and don't ever want to have to live without it! It's THAT good. They have quite the lineup of spice blends beyond this one, but to me, nothing tops it. I am really excited to taste their entire line, but have to restrain myself! If I bought every single spice they sell I'd go broke and wouldn't have any money left for an internet connection, there are THAT many! Ok, I might have exaggerated just a bit. (Just a little!) Wink.

I could go on and on about how it tastes, but let's be frank. You won't be able to lick my description and taste it any better. I suggest if you are a Nutritarian or someone who values your health, blood pressure and heart, please CLICK HERE and purchase yourself some Table Tasty goodness. I don't get any compensation for this, by the way, I just love this product and think it is worth it's weight in Gold.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Hi, I'm Jemoiselle! Welcome to The Blissful Nutritarian! I've been a practitioner since April 2009 and have never felt better! It has flat out rocked my world! After healing my body through plant-based nutrition, I want to shout it from the roof tops! Food is medicine and "healthy" food can be just as crave-worthy as junk food if you give your body a chance to adjust! I love to help others who wish the same for themselves! If that's you, contact me though youtube or my form below anytime. I'd be happy to help!

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"Where making peace of the pieces doesn't have to be a compromise, where deprivation becomes joy, and "Eating to Live" is my preference. Welcome to my beautiful world! I am Jemoiselle, and this is The Blissful Nutritarian."